Genetic diversity estimates and DNA fingerprinting of Canadian cultivars of durum wheat.

Abstract

Estimates of genetic diversity present in gene pools have important implications for breeders and germplasm curators. They constitute the raw material for plant improvement and can provide protection against genetic vulnerability to biotic and abiotic stresses. The purpose of this thesis was to derive Pedigree and Amplified Restricted Fragment Polymorphism (AFLP)-based Genetic Diversity Estimates (GDEPED and GDEAFLP, respectively) among all currently registered 13 Canadian durum wheat cultivars in order to test the hypothesis that the actual level of genetic variation at the DNA level is lower than what is measured from pedigree data. Two objectives were set in this thesis. The first objective was to estimate the genetic diversity level among cultivars using two independent methods namely AFLP and pedigree. The second objective of this thesis was to use cultivar-specific AFLP markers for identification of cultivars and transform these markers into sequence tagged site (STS) markers for routine identification of durum wheat cultivars. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)